ÂWhen You Reach Me' by Rebecca Stead wins 2010 Newbery Medal

Network News

-- Rebecca Stead's novel "When You Reach Me" won the John Newbery Medal for outstanding children's literature on Monday, the top prize for children's book authors. Set in New York City in the 1970s, the novel tells the story of Miranda, a sixth-grader, who gets mysterious notes saying she needs to be saved from a future tragedy. The judges heaped praise on Stead's intricate book, explaining that every scene and word is "vital to the plot."

The beautifully illustrated "The Lion & The Mouse" won the Caldecott Medal, the top prize for picture books. Illustrator Jerry Pinkney sets his fable in Africa's Serengeti Desert and uses almost no words.

Four runners-up received Newbery Honor awards, including historical novels "The Evolution of Calpurnia Tate," by Jacqueline Kelly, and "The Mostly True Adventures of Homer P. Figg," by Rodman Philbrick.